nothing to do

We woke up on Saturday with NO plans - I can't remember the last time that happened.  I woke up at 8am, about an hour before Kaylea or Jordy.  I hadn't felt too great the night before and couldn't sleep, so I started looking through Pinterest.  I figured Kaylea would enjoy baking some cookies with me.  That's how we started our morning and let me tell you - it was so worth it!  These cookies were amazing.  I am taking the leftovers to work on Monday just to keep from eating them. Between the cookies and the icing, 4 sticks of butter were used.  I told Kaylea that she had an awesome daddy because baking is extra fun when someone cleans up your mess and washes your dishes, which he did.

We talked about what we could do and came up with a few options.  We decided to head to Indy and visit the Children's Museum.  We got there around 1pm.  I was excited to see that there was a winter wonderland exhibit.  We spent a long time at the museum.  We went down the slide twice.  My girl isn't too interested in the exhibits unless they are interactive, but she did have fun.

It wasn't quite 5pm when we left, so we decided to try to make a quick trip to the Circle Center Mall.  I thought they would have someone Kaylea would enjoy, but there wasn't much.  We ended up letting her get her fingernails painted.  We had dinner at Johnny Rockets and the trip was so worth it because I found my next pair of running shoes for 50% off! 

my favorite thanksgiving things

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration.  We missed seeing the entire family, but it was nice to not travel and to sleep in our own bed.  My mom drove to Southern Indiana to pick up Trina, Meagan, Mikey, and my dad.  They got in late Wednesday night.  They played and played with Kaylea. 

 

Kaylea hasn't liked Mikey too much in the past.  She couldn't give me a reason.  She said it's because he tickles her (not sure where she got this).  I kept preparing her for his visit, saying that she didn't have to like him, but she had to be nice to him.  What a change in attitude - Mikey was her best friend.  She jumped on the trampoline with him and always had to know where he was.  She enjoyed having her family here and was exhausted by the end of the night.

 

 

Each year we write on leaves what we are thankful for.  It's always fun to see and share.

 

My Favorite = Cranberry Relish

 

Kaylea Fixed Trina's Hair

hair style

Kaylea wanted me to "fix" her hair on Wednesday night.  I had put a bunch of her smaller, older bows in a bag and she brought them to me.  Her special request was 7 pony tails, which she immediately removed.  What I don't have is a picture of how she fixed my hair :)

 

moments

This morning, I went to wake Kaylea up for school and noticed that she was already waking up. She was crying as I sat down on her bed. I asked her what was wrong and she said, she "wanted more pets." It took me about 3 times of asking before I understood what she said. I asked if she was talking about stuffed animals and she said no. I asked what kind of pets she wanted and she said, "a hamster and a parrot." She was as serious as can be. I gave her a big ole hug and asked if she wanted to turn on the TV…nothing like distraction, right?

busy bag - gone fishin'

 

We got out another busy bag to play with on Thursday.  This one was called "Gone Fishin."  The fish were made from felt and had magnetic eyes.  The fishing rod was a pencil attached to a string with a magnet on the end.  Kaylea really seemed to enjoy this one.

 

bat girl

A few days after Halloween I found this costume for 70% off. I thought Kaylea would like it and it was even cuter than I expected.  We couldn't figure out how to get the bat glasses to stay on, but we'll work on that (along with patience) the next time.

 

 

veteran's day

I was off today to celebrate Veteran's Day...and even though daddy is our favorite Veteran, he had to spend the day working.  I did some shopping with Mimi this morning (she finally bought her own computer) and then Kaylea & I headed to hang out with the big mouse.  She had a great time playing games and dancing with Chuck E Cheese.  She even did a great job posing for her a picture with him (her request).  We came home and spent some time coloring.  We also ended the night with Moe's Monday.  Kaylea has come such a long way...this is how she orders her naked burrito now:  rice, black beans, chicken, pico, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream.  She likes more on her than I like on mine.



 

relaxing weekend

We had a great weekend, but I forgot to take many pictures!  Friday night we had friends over for dinner.  Kaylea & Owen pretty much entertained each other for the entire night.  They were together for over 3 hours and there was only one melt down/disagreement.  Pretty impressive.  oh, and the only picture I got was of the meltdown when there wasn't time for Rudolph :( 

Saturday, Jordy & I redeemed a deal chicken for an hour massage and it was wonderful...except I accidentally gave Jordy my set of keys to his car, so he had to come back and get me.  Saturday evening we got a date night.  We went shopping (some Christmas) and out to dinner.  We were going to stay out "late."  We were home by 8:00 to play with our girl and put her to bed.

Today, we made waffles for breakfast.  I've had 3 waffles makers, sold 2 of them and this is the first time I have used one.  We let daddy enjoy Veteran's Day by going to a movie with his friend and taking him out to eat for Mexican!  Kaylea & I went shopping with Mimi.  We found some great deals at Walmart.  We got a new Bat Girl costume for $5 and a pumpkin cup.  I also promised Kaylea some new crayons.  While daddy went to the movies, we went to Jen's house to spend some more time with Owen.  It is so nice how these two play together.  They played upstairs a lot so we got some quite time. 

busy bags

I signed up for a Busy Bag swap and I am so pleased with the results.  I plan to take pictures of all 22 of the busy bags and make a photo collage, but I haven't had time yet.  A busy bag is a simple activity that can be pulled out and easily assembled or played with by your child when you just need a few minutes of uninterrupted time.  So far, I have played with Kaylea with them, but they have been fun.  I tell her she is getting a surprise and pull one out of the bag :)  So far we have played with the number wheel and pizza factory and she has loved them both.

 

She did better at this one than I thought she would at the number wheel.  Next time I get it out, I'm going to see how she does on her own.  If you can get in a busy bag swap, I highly recommend it.  It would be hard to make these projects on your own.  This was simple and more cost effective.

 

crouching tigers

Kaylea has also started taking karate at school through an organization called Crouching Tigers.  She is learning all kinds of fun stuff and seems to be having a great time.  I thought for sure this girl was going to be a dancer, but maybe not afterall :)  I am hoping to get some pictures in the near future.

basketball skills

Last night was our first basketball skills class.  We went to the YMCA for class.  We met Coach Jim & Coach Green.  They were really good with the kids.  We started off by warming up and then running.  Coach Jim asked Kaylea what her favorite animal was and she said, "an elephant."  So, we had to run like elephants.  Kaylea was very vocal and yelled answers to all of the questions.  She did a good job listening when a coach was trying to help her, but not so good when listening to mama.  We split into 2 teams.  We worked on shooting (we need practice) and passing.  We had a relay race and played a game at the end.  Kaylea said she had fun and keeps asking if she can go back!

 

moments

Two sweet moments to post...

Kaylea keeps saying, "Are you serious?"  The tone of voice is too cute!

We have a smart girl on our hands.  We were shopping in Target looking at different things and she saw these hot pink sparkly boots.  I told her that maybe Santa would bring them.  She says, "is he going to come to the store and get them for me?" 

quick trip

We went to Southern Indiana for a very quick visit this weekend.  We left Saturday morning around 9am.  I met my friend Jennifer for a pedicure on Saturday morning and then we hung out with Aunt Shannan for a little while.  We went to a birthday party before heading back to hang out with Nana & Pop. I think Kaylea has been missing them.  She had a great time seeing them.  It was a good quick trip...I just wish I could take my bed with me.  I never sleep well in another bed. 

 

Kaylea likes to be carried upside down lately.  I don't know what why likes it, but that is always her request.  Below are some pictures of Pop carrying her upside down..

 

happy 2nd birthday alton

We have celebrated a lot of birthdays this fall.  Alton turned 2 on Sunday and we went to his barnyard bash on Saturday afternoon.  Kaylea has been talking about not liking "baby Alton" because he is a baby and can't play with her.  We realized we need to stop calling him that.  We told her he was a big boy and could play and not a baby anymore.  She was happy to see this for herself when we got there.  Alton has gotten so big and it was great to see them.

 

trick or treat 2013

October 31 was a very busy day for Kaylea Jordyn.  She had to go to school because mommy & daddy had to work.  Since it was Wednesday, she had karate class at school.  It seems she really likes taking karate.  She asks about it all of the time.  They had a party in her class and followed it up with a Halloween parade. 

 

 

We came home to eat dinner before heading out to trick or treat.  It was very cold, but Kaylea was ready to go.  The first house we came to had a man wearing a very scary mask.  Kaylea was scared and the man took the mask off and she started smiling.  Every house we came to after that she said, "I hope there aren't any scary people at this house." 

 

After about 45 minutes of trick or treating, Kaylea said she was done and wanted to go home.  It was cold.  She spent the next 30 minutes eating some of her treats and handing out juice boxes.  She was almost more excited to pass out the treats.  She wouldcall me over to answer the door if there was someone dressed as a scary character. I think we were all pretty worn out and ready for bed after trick or treating.

 

 

 

 

 

Love the comparison over the years - our monkey, astronaut, letter carrier, and butterfly princess.  Kaylea wanted to be a bottle of ketchup this year, but she told me this after wanting to be a butterfly princess and I already bought the costume.  I offered to return it for the bottle of ketchup, but she wanted to keep this.